facebook-pixel

Southern Utah man accused of slaying wife on cruise was celebrating anniversary

Crime • The Santa Clara couple’s children were aboard the ship.

The Emerald Princess cruise ship is docked in Juneau, Alaska, Wednesday, July 26, 2017. The FBI is investigating the domestic dispute death of a Utah woman on board the ship, which was traveling in U.S. waters outside Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

A federal judge in Alaska on Thursday ordered pre-trial detention for a southern Utah man charged in the beating death of his wife aboard an Alaskan cruise ship — reportedly while the couple was celebrating their wedding anniversary.

U.S. District Magistrate Judge Kenneth McCoy also approved a motion by the U.S. Attorney's Office to change the venue for the potential trial of Kenneth Ray Manzanares, 39, of Santa Clara, from Alaska's Anchorage district to Juneau, where many of the potential witnesses are located.

It was in Juneau where Manzanares was taken into custody by the FBI Wednesday, after the Princess Cruises Emerald Princess and its 3,400 passengers and 1,100 crew members were diverted following the discovery of 39-year-old Kristy Manzanares' bloodied body on the floor of the Manzanares' cabin.

The couple had booked the cruise to celebrate their wedding anniversary, a neighbor told The Associated Press on Friday.

Manzanares was named in a criminal murder complaint on Thursday alleging he killed his wife of 18 years during a domestic dispute while the cruise ship was off the Alaskan coast, two days earlier.

Medical and ship's security personnel, who found her dead at 9:03 p.m. Tuesday, described a scene where blood was spattered throughout the cabin — and on the hands and clothing of Kenneth Manzanares, according to charging documents.

A witness told FBI investigators that when he entered the room and asked what had happened, Manzanares replied, "She would not stop laughing at me."

Prosecutors say Manzanares attempted to drag his wife's body toward the cabin's balcony, but the same witness pulled her back into the cabin as security officers arrived.

Later, after being handcuffed by FBI agents in Juneau, Manzanares allegedly blurted out, "My life is over.'"

The couple's three teenage daughters also were on the trip. They were not injured, but no further details about what they may have seen, or other information were contained in the criminal complaint.

The family's neighbor of 10 years, Dana Nicholls, has set up a fundraising page for the girls.

Like Kristy Manzanares, Nicholls works in real estate. Kenneth Manzanares works in auto sales and insurance, Nicholls said.

Nicolls said his goal is to help the couple's daughters with whatever they may need, including funeral expenses. He said two of them are teenagers and one is a young adult.

"Their children are like my children," he said. "They're part of the family."

In hindsight, Nicholls said there never appeared to be any warning signs, Nicholls said.

A spokeswoman for Santa Clara-Ivins police told The Tribune on Thursday that there were no records of officers responding to the home.

"Everybody thinks that there's a big path that leads to something like this — and absolutely nothing. Just absolutely nothing," Nicholls told The AP in a phone interview from Santa Clara.

He also said he does not want the world to see Kenneth as a monster.

"He was not a bad person any little bit, as far as we know," Nicolls said. "Everybody probably has issues behind closed doors that nobody knows about, but these people were the perfect American family."

At the time of the slaying, the ship was roughly mid-way through its week-long, round trip excursion to Alaska, having sailed out of Seattle on Sunday.

Cruise ship passengers told CBS News that a "murder mystery" theme dinner was taking place at the time of the alleged homicide and some passengers initially thought it was a hoax.

In granting the detention order Thursday, McCoy noted several factors, including the seriousness of the crime charged, the fact that Manzanares had no family ties to Alaska and that the "weight of evidence against the defendant is strong."

The judge also agreed with prosecutors that "no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of any other person and the community ... [or] reasonably assure the defendant's appearance" in court.

Neither the detention nor change of venue orders was opposed by attorney Jamie McGrady, an Anchorage-based public defender assigned to represent Manzanares.

McGrady did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Friday.

Tribune reporter Mariah Noble contributed to this story.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims

The Emerald Princess cruise ship is docked in Juneau, Alaska, Wednesday, July 26, 2017. The FBI is investigating the domestic dispute death of a Utah woman on board the ship, which was traveling in U.S. waters off Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

Several passengers of the Emerald Princess cruise ship bide their time on deck while waiting to disembark on Wednesday, July 26, 2017, in Juneau, Alaska. The FBI is investigating the domestic dispute death of a Utah woman on board the ship, which was traveling in U.S. waters outside Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

Passengers of the Emerald Princess cruise ship disembark on Wednesday, July 26, 2017, in Juneau, Alaska, hours after arriving at port. A domestic dispute aboard the cruise ship led to the death of a 39-year-old Utah woman, and the FBI is investigating what happened in U.S. waters off Alaska, the agency said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

Passengers from the Emerald Princess cruise ship wait on shore for excursions to explore the Juneau, Alaska area, Wednesday, July 26, 2017. The passengers were allowed off the ship late Wednesday afternoon. The FBI is investigating the domestic dispute death of a Utah woman on board the ship, which had been traveling in U.S. waters outside Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

The Emerald Princess cruise ship is docked in Juneau, Alaska, Wednesday, July 26, 2017. The FBI is investigating the domestic dispute death of a Utah woman on board the ship, which was traveling in U.S. waters outside Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)